The Sand Migration
| }} The Sand Migration is 's entry into the Custom BIONICLE Wiki Summer Writing Contest 2014. Story The sands of the Wastelands of Bara Magna stood calm and still under the scorching, summer sun. Various formations of rock, several created from The Shattering of Spherus Magna, litter the landscape. From an aerial perspective, it resembles a large canyon with portions that were either completely removed, or diced into smaller pieces with a knife. The only sounds that could be heard were faint, cooling winds, a blessing to those succumbing to the blazingly hot, arid climate. Tors and other rock structures were ready to collapse from the harsh winds and smash into the ground below them. But the action is prevented by the support of the metal Exsidian embedded in the rock. This metallic support did not originate naturally. Instead, it was placed there by the warriors of the Sand Tribe as an act of wise stewardship to their environment by using the remains of armor and weapons made of Exsidian from the Ice Tribe's counter attack during the Core War. The Sand Tribe were very wise people once upon a time, and they became even wiser after the results of The Great Beings' experiments that gave them the traits of animals. After their transformation, they gained a high respect for their local wildlife, contributing greatly in conserving the ecosystem. But this made them more aggressive to the other tribes. Their aggression eventually overcame them after the stress from the Core War and the Shattering. Their brains devolved into beasts worse than their outward appearance, making them become more animalistic than the creatures they cared for. Not a single form of life can be seen in sight, besides a few hovering Cave Shrikes; scavengers whose purpose in life is to cleanse the deserts of rapidly decaying carcasses and to end the lives of those baking in the sun. The majority of Bara Magna's desert dwelling wildlife tend to stay in burrows underneath the surface or inside rock crevices, so they can hide from the exhausting heat. Some even take up the mantel of nocturnality, being active only at night where the temperatures are more suitable to survive in. But sadly, there's always those who are unlucky to escape the danger of heat exhaustion. That's when the Shrikes role in the ecosystem comes into play. These birds are patrolling this rocky area, searching for the smallest piece of carrion or straggler they can spot with their sharp eyesight. Most of the time Cave Shrikes do not consume their capture, if not completely. Instead, they stockpile their kills and captured carcasses, because food in the Bara Magna deserts is not plentiful. These birds surprisingly never scavenge another's food stockpile, unless you're a mother Shrike whose egg was taken from the nest and placed in one. Tragically for the Shrikes currently in search of food, their stockpiles are empty, nor have they found anything edible for three days. The event they were expecting, The Sand Migration, hasn't occurred, or at least in this area. Now it is time to move on to more fertile regions. All except for one. This exception is a mother Cave Shrike, who has an egg clutch in this barren region of the Wastelands. These birds are highly protective of their nests, keeping an eye to the ground and the other to their young. Risks have been high for this mother. When her species get's unbearably hungry, they do not shy away from nest raiding. Thankfully, she has managed to predict her attackers' strikes and protect her nest. After at least five minutes since the other members of her kind left the area, the mother halts her search for food to observe the welfare of her eggs that she conducts once an hour. Her nest, like many other Shrikes, is located on cliffs. They are made from various objects such as rock, Exsidian steel (most likely from the Core War), and anything impenetrable to most predators then glued together with the Shrike's saliva. The first task she must accomplish is to inspect the den of her unhatched young by checking the eggs for any kind of damage. The Shrike concludes that all of her unborn are in perfect condition, but if one of them were not, then she would have no problem flinging the discarded egg down to the ground below. For it would be dead already before being tossed out of the nest. Secondly, the Sand Shrike decides that some of her nest's defenses are in dire need of a few replacements. The mother then proceeds to hastefully gather the hardest stones she can spot on the floor of sand. Afterwards, she disposes of the old, faulty protection and fills in their place with the new. Finally, the Shrike checks her egg's temperature. Noticing that her young is getting a bit too warm, she extends her wings and begins flapping them. This fans cool air toward the nest to prevent from melting under the extreme conditions. But as soon as the Mother Shrike is finished with her repairs, another bird lands just five inches away from her. A Desert Eagle. These creatures gain their deadly reputation not form speed nor agility, but rather brute strength. Instead of talons on their feet, they're hard and bony with the purpose of breaking the bones of its prey items with blunt force. If its club-like feet fail to kill prey, the Eagle will use its sickle-like beak to impale the bird's capture. More coming soon Trivia *The story was originally going to involve The Element Lord of Sand at some point. Many ideas surfaced, but he was completely omitted from the story in the final revision.